Everything you need to know about Tymebank, South Africa’s first digital bank – Imali Matters

Everything you need to know about Tymebank, South Africa’s first digital bank – Imali Matters

14 November 2018

TymeBank has soft launched in South Africa, allowing users to open a bank account online.

TymeBank has soft launched in South Africa, allowing users to open a bank account online.
The bank is owned by Patrice Motsepe and had signed up 1,800 clients since its soft launch last week, said CEO Sandile Shabalala. The official opening is scheduled for the end of the first quarter next year.
TymeBank is positioned as a digital-first bank and promises no monthly account fees, and competitive interest rates.

“TymeBank is a new kind of bank that’s digitally smart. The money we save by not having branches benefits you, it means you pay a lot less for banking. We have no monthly fees, many everyday banking transactions are free, and there are very low charges for other transactions,” states the bank.

Users only pay for the services they use, and the most expensive fee is R8 when drawing at another bank’s ATM.

The bank, which is wholly-owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital, does not have any banking branches, relying solely on digital means (online, mobile, or kiosks).

Tyme has partnered with PnP and Boxer stores, which (over time) will offer a point-of-presence for customers to interact with the bank.

Currently, TymeBank is available via its Android app or its website.

Here’s everything you need to know about setting up an account:

Signing up
Signing up to the bank is a simple process that requires no documents, and carries no charge.

To open an account, you need a South African ID number and a South African cellphone number, which the bank verifies through several questions and a One-Time PIN (OTP).

When registering, the group will ask you to verify your identity through questions, like asking you to identify your name from a list of names, and others hinging off your information that is available from credit providers (“Is X amount of rand your average payment on your Edgars account?”), or other registries.

If the process is done at a kiosk, biometric data will be captured and compared to the data with Home Affairs, which is connected to the Tyme systems, and a free Visa debit card is issued immediately.
If done online, you will have access to your account, but it will be limited in how much you can transact until you go to a kiosk and “upgrade” your account (for free) to a full account through capturing biometric data, and registering your residential address.

You will also get a free debit card immediately.

FICA verification is done when you open or upgrade an account. Your ID number and thumbprints are checked electronically with the Department of Home Affairs. Your residential address and other personal information is confirmed against existing data when you answer a few easy questions.

Account profiles
Based on how well the bank “knows” you, you will be given a banking profile. These profiles determine your account limits.

A “Just met” profile gives you an EveryDay bank account, access to the group’s saving tool and an account balance and transaction limits.

A “Getting to know you” profile is one that has biometric data captured at the kiosk, and gives you the benefits above, increases transaction limits, and gives you a free Visa card. Because of the partnership with PnP, the card also doubles Smart Shopper points earned if linked.

A “Good friends” profile is one that has residential address data captured. It has the benefits above, and again increases transaction limits, while offering interest of 6% interest from day 1, 7% after 30 days, 9% after 90 days. If you give 10 days’ notice after 90 days, you earn as much as 10%.

Kiosks
Tyme currently has a limited physical presence via its kiosks, but plans to roll out more as it approaches full launch in 2019.

Currently, customers can only find kiosks at six stores, namely:

PnP Rosebank

PnP Bedfordview

PnP Kensington

PnP Kenilworth

Boxer West Street

Boxer Alexandra

Services
Tyme offers typical banking services, with additional transactions (such as prepaid airtime and electricity as well as an overdraft facility) also on the cards. The debit card is also currently limited to bricks and mortar transactions within South Africa, with online purchases and international payments also in the pipeline.

The services offered on the account are:

Withdrawals

Deposits

Sending money

Payments (EFT)

Card swipes

Statements

PnP Smart Shopper points

Prepaid products (coming soon)

Overdraft (coming soon)

Fees

Service

Free

Registration fee

Free

Monthly account fee

Free

Withdrawals

Free at PnP and Boxer stores
R2 at other major retailers
R8 per R1 000 at all ATMs, countrywide

Deposits

R4 at PnP and Boxer stores

Payments/send money

Free to other TymeBank accounts
R2 for payments to accounts at other banks

Card swipes

Free

Balances

Free

Limits
The bank limits the value of the transactions based on how well it knows you (your account profile). These are broken down as such.

Transaction

Just met

Getting to know you

Good friends

Payment

R2 000

R10 000

R100 000

Prepaid purchase

R1 000

R3 000

R3 000

Cash withdrawal at PnP or Boxer

R2 000

R5 000

R5 000

Cash deposit

R3 000

R20 000

R20 000

Daily transaction limit

R2 000

R10 000

R100 000

Daily cash deposit limit

R20 000

R20 000

R20 000

Monthly transaction limit

R40 000

R100 000

R1 000 000

Monthly cash deposit limit

R20 000

N/A

N/A

The combined maximum balance for your EveryDay account and GoalSave(s) for Just met is R20 000.

The combined maximum balance for your EveryDay account and GoalSave(s) for Getting to know you is R50 000.

The maximum balance for your EveryDay account on Good friends is R500 000 and the maximum balance for your GoalSave(s) is R100 000. The combined maximum balance for your EveryDay account and GoalSave(s) is R500 000.